The script for the National Theatre of Great Britain’s blockbuster play War Horse is pretty run-of-the-mill but the stage craft is absolutely dazzling, particularly the puppetry. In fact, the star of the show is without a doubt the horse Joey, who is so utterly convincing you react to him as if he’s real, even though you know full well that he’s not. Of everyone on stage, it is Joey who moves you most emotionally. In fact, like thousands before me, I have to admit I had tears running down my cheeks at the end, even though I’ve seen the play twice before.

War Horse at the New London Theatre. All photographs © Brinkhoff Mögenburg

War Horse is based on Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 children’s novel. When the National Theatre decided to adapt it for the stage, they enlisted South Africa’s award-winning Handspring Puppet Company and writer Nick Stafford. The production, directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, premiered in 2007 and was an instant hit, transferring to the West End and then the world. It was staged in Australia in 2013 with an Australian cast. Now the play returns here in a touring production with an international cast.

It begins at a quiet farm in Devon in 1912, where a foal is bought at an auction by Ted Narracott to spite his brother. Ted’s teenage son Albert falls in love with the horse and rears him, even teaching him to plough to save him from being given away in one of his father’s thoughtless, drunken bets. But Ted sells Joey to the cavalry and he is sent to the World War I battlefields of France. Albert is distraught and, though still only 16, enlists and goes off to try and bring him home.

The staging is ingenious. Set designer Rae Smith makes evocative use of a screen in the shape of a piece of paper that Albert tears from a sketchbook, onto which drawings are projected. Simple props are inventively used to create new scenes, such as two sections of railing held in a V to suggest the prow of a ship, and there are clever effects like the outline of a tank moved by actors. Paule Constable’s dramatic lighting is crucial and works superbly, in conjunction with Adrian Sutton’s music, which includes lovely choral singing by the ensemble as well as English folk songs performed by actor Ben Murray, and the sound design by Christopher Shutt.

The puppetry by Handspring’s Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler, meanwhile, is astonishing. There are various birds – swallows, crows and a wonderfully cheeky goose pushed around on wheels – but at the heart of the production are the two main horses, Joey and Topthorn.

Constructed from cane, leather and steel, they are operated by three puppeteers who are clearly visible but who do such an outstanding job that you forget they are there. They make the horses move with uncanny accuracy, vocalise their sounds from breathing to whinnying, and flick their ears and tails to convey emotion. Their eyes don’t move but you’d swear they do under the lighting. On top of that, the puppeteers have to carry people riding them. There are other horses in the battle scenes which aren’t so fully constructed, but the direction covers this cleverly.

We initially see Joey as a foal, learning to stand and run. His first appearance as a grown horse is an unforgettable moment, and there are numerous other images you will long remember, from Joey being caught up in barbed wire, to the final scenes featuring Joey and Albert, which touch the heart even though you are well aware your buttons are being pushed, with filmic music swelling in the background.

The human characters are sketchily drawn and ironically enough feel less real than the horses – though there are some strong performances, notably Scott Miller as Albert, Khalid Daley as Albert’s friend on the battlefields, and Christopher Naylor as the German officer Friedrich Müller.

The script feels pedestrian and one-dimensional at times and is undeniably sentimental. But the staging is so dazzling, with images you will never forget, and the message so moving about the lunacy of war and the devastating loss of life, that the production still wins you over.

War Horse plays at the Lyric Theatre, Sydney until March 15, and Crown Theatre, Perth March 24 – April 12

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